Nothing makes a guided tour better than a really good narrative, and if you're lucky, the person taking you around can provide just that. Much of the time, however, you wish the guide would just shut up, especially when the canned recitation is delivered in a voice tinged with boredom or personal interjections ruin an otherwise simple sightseeing. Fortunately, we've found two outfits offering solutions that are worth mentioning, including one with a Frommer's-only discount.The folks at Travelog have come up a recorded audio tour written by experts who point out only the best of each destination, with the special insight only they can give. And this for $19.95, less than the price of "taking a family of four to the movies," as the company's CEO, Myron Levine, says. There's a 10% discount if you order more than one tour, and free shipping is available with three or more. The tours, on CD and cassette tape, come with a map, directions, a discount card for savings on hotels, restaurants and other attractions along the route and more.The tours take you along America's back roads, through quaint villages and past scenic wonders in a whole new way, letting you control where you are going, but knowing where you are all the time. The company provides suggestions on lodging, dining and shopping, and includes a wealth of historical facts and entertaining background about each region.They even have a complementary Web site, which provides updates on special events and attractions, road construction and detours, as well as details on discount partners. There are also links to visitor's bureaus, newspapers and other resources for information on any given area. And to keep the kids interested, a trivia quiz and a scavenger hunt are included, too.Although the firm plans more tapes on areas throughout the USA, the current listing is exclusively in the Northeast and Nevada. For a full listing of tours read their index online. Future tours will cover Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington State.For more information or to order a Travelog Tour, phone 866/LETS-TOUR (538-7868) or visit www.travelog.com, where you can read descriptions of each tour available and listen to excerpts online.If you're heading for Northern Arizona, consider the fine audio tours produced by Walkabout, based in Sedona. They're inexpensive at $9 each (for the cassettes), but if you mention Frommers.com when ordering, you will get a 10% discount on up to two tours, and an even bigger 25% off when three or more are ordered. (Their normal discount is 15% for orders of three or more.) CD's for the same tours care regularly $16, but the same discount applies.Walkabout's ten tours include:The Grand Canyon
Montezuma Castle
Sedona's Boynton Canyon
The Petrified Forest & Painted Desert
Sunset Crater
Wupatki Pueblo and more.The audio tours, designed either for walking or for driving depending on the destination, are written by an anthropologist and former teacher who led museum tours in the area for more than 20 years, then fine-tuned by a professional scriptwriter for award-winning PBS documentaries. In addition, all tours are site-reviewed by staff for accuracy and interpretation. You'll hear little known historical and cultural facts, as well as geological information, features of the local flora and fauna, and Native American myths and legends. On the Grand Canyon East Rim Drive the CD cover promises you will find "the earth's history (as) revealed in the walls and peaks of the canyon" and that you will see this wonder "through Hopi eyes." At the Sunset Crater National Monument, which is identified as Arizona's most recently active volcano, you will "learn how (it) was saved from Hollywood and what the lunar astronauts did here."To order or for more information, phone Walkabout Audio Tours at 877/530-1030 or visit the Web site, www.walkaboutaudiotours.com, where you can also listen to samples.
Montezuma Castle
Sedona's Boynton Canyon
The Petrified Forest & Painted Desert
Sunset Crater
Wupatki Pueblo and more.The audio tours, designed either for walking or for driving depending on the destination, are written by an anthropologist and former teacher who led museum tours in the area for more than 20 years, then fine-tuned by a professional scriptwriter for award-winning PBS documentaries. In addition, all tours are site-reviewed by staff for accuracy and interpretation. You'll hear little known historical and cultural facts, as well as geological information, features of the local flora and fauna, and Native American myths and legends. On the Grand Canyon East Rim Drive the CD cover promises you will find "the earth's history (as) revealed in the walls and peaks of the canyon" and that you will see this wonder "through Hopi eyes." At the Sunset Crater National Monument, which is identified as Arizona's most recently active volcano, you will "learn how (it) was saved from Hollywood and what the lunar astronauts did here."To order or for more information, phone Walkabout Audio Tours at 877/530-1030 or visit the Web site, www.walkaboutaudiotours.com, where you can also listen to samples.